This Is A Public Service Announcement
by Schen
Summary: Koda and Riley learn that it's not a good idea to shoot people at bus stops. Examines the logical consequences of episode 16 'No Matter How You Slice It'.
1. Chapter 1

This story is rated K+ for mentioning guns. Enjoy.

* * *

Driving the Amber Beach airport shuttle was nobody's dream job. Kevin Park had driven it for four years, and in that time he'd encountered everything from grouchy jet-lagged businessmen to hungover college kids claiming they'd blame him if they missed their flights. That wasn't even starting on his monthly driving targets. He wanted to tell his bosses where they could put their KPIs.

Still, today wasn't so bad. He was more than halfway into his shift, and for the first time this month, they were making good time. Or at least, they would be, if the four idiots at the door would hurry up and board. Park got up from the driver's seat.

'What's the holdup? I've got eight more stops on this route.'

The four were teenagers, wearing clothes coordinated with their luggage. They'd been about to board but now seemed to be looking at something or someone behind the bus. Park checked his rear view mirror. A van had just pulled up behind the bus, and two men had gotten out.

By now, other passengers were peering out the window too, annoyed at the delay. Someone shouted from the back of the bus.

'Those men just took out guns!'

Park wasn't paid enough for this. He hit the gas, tearing away at a speed that would definitely not help him achieve his safety KPI for the month.

* * *

Riley had had a very strange day. Since becoming a Ranger, he'd become used to facing monsters with bizarre powers - monsters who stole the Rangers' courage, gave them cavities, even one whose sole power was farting red gas. But a monster who broke their friendships? Where did Sledge find these weirdos - a Saturday morning children's show?

Though Riley had to admit, Shearfear's gimmick would've worked, if not for his last-minute plan. That would definitely be a story to tell his grandchildren, Riley mused – how he had saved the day by dressing up like a caveman and shooting his friends in the face!

Still, the strangest part of his day wasn't that a monster had turned his friends into strangers who'd nearly abandoned the team. Or that Ms Morgan knew where to get wigs in his and Koda's hairstyles with less than an hour's notice.

The strangest part was that after all that was over, they had to deal with something as mundane as luggage. The luggage which his friends had left at the bus stop when they'd run off to fight Shearfear. Which they were now running back to get.

He had never seen the Rangers run quite as fast, not even when confronting monsters.

'Come on, Riley - faster!'

They had to hope their bags were still there. If not, as Shelby put it, Sledge owed her new underwear.

As they rounded the corner to the bus stop, Riley saw the bags standing where they had left them. He breathed a sigh of relief. He and Koda watched as the other Rangers ran to their bags.

Koda put a hand to his ear. 'You hear that?'

There was yelling in the distance. 'Hold it right there!'

'What going on?'

Riley shrugged. 'Looks like they're after someone.'

Both of them stood bemused as security guards ran in their direction. The next thing Riley knew, he was flat on the ground.

'Hold it right there! You two are the ones who held up the bus station!'

His arms were twisted behind him. Something clicked at his wrists. From the corner of his eye he saw Koda on the ground too.

'You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be taken down and used against you in court.'

'Wait, what? There must be some mistake - '

The guard looked unimpressed. 'Tell it to the chief inspector.'


	2. Chapter 2

Riley was sitting at a desk with a very annoyed chief inspector. His Energem, Dino Com, and all his possessions had been confiscated. He didn't know where the other Rangers were, the last he'd seen of them was their panicked faces as he was taken away. He didn't know where Koda was, either. They'd been separated on arrival.

'The bus driver called airport security. Now are you going to confess, or do I have to get nasty?'

'Confess? I'm sorry, officer. What's going on?'

The inspector sighed. 'You are charged with terrorism. Which part of that do you not understand?'

'Terrorism? I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding. Why don't you let me call someone, and we can sort this out?' Riley tried to look as confident as he could with both hands cuffed. If he could get Ms Morgan on the phone, she would know what to do.

'Stop denying it! The bus driver and all the passengers saw you. We caught it on CCTV.' The inspector pushed a laptop at Riley. With a sinking heart, he leaned forward to watch.

The video showed the bus station from above. A bus was in the bay, its passengers waiting to board. Despite the grainy footage Riley recognised Tyler, Ivan, Chase and Shelby.

A van pulled up at the bus station. Riley watched himself and Koda leap from the van and aim Dino Morphers at the other four Rangers. They clutched their chests and fell to the ground.

You had to be kidding. Other Rangers got cool wrist devices or free cell phones. Why in the name of Zordon did their morphers have to be guns? Even the Jungle Fury Rangers had it better. They might look fashion-impaired, but at least they didn't risk arrest for unlawful possession every time they used their morphers.

'They're not guns! They're -' Riley stopped. How could he explain without giving away their identities? 'They're, uh, Nerf guns.'

The inspector's expression didn't change. 'If I had a dollar for every creative excuse I've heard, I could buy Starbucks. Not the drink, the franchise.'

The inspector wasn't buying it. Riley didn't think he'd have bought it either. He tried a different tack.

'Those people in the video, they're my friends - '

'You shot your own _friends_?'

'- and we didn't shoot them, they're fine! Watch the video. It'll prove I'm right.' The video had to show their morphers weren't real guns. Because of the simple fact that Tyler, Shelby, Ivan and Chase weren't dead.

'You still want to see more? I've shown you more than enough to convict you in court.'

'Humour me.'

The inspector glared, then pressed play again.

He and Koda were standing over the Rangers on the ground. They lowered their guns. Then something offscreen caught their attention - Shearfear, Riley guessed. He remembered the monster had arrived before the others had recovered, and he and Koda had gone to fight. His digital self looked at Koda and both ran offscreen.

The other Rangers were still writhing in pain. It was unusual for getting shot by Dino Chargers to have that effect; morphing certainly didn't hurt. But given that Kendall had created the Chargers in thirty minutes in the back of a moving van, he couldn't blame her if they still had kinks.

Okay, it didn't look good, but the other Rangers would get up. They had to get up. The others had joined them to fight Shearfear - they couldn't stay on the ground forever!

After an eternity, Shelby staggered to her feet. Tyler followed shakily, and Chase managed to get up after attempting twice to stand. Riley saw Ivan half-crouched on the ground, eyes wide, gasping dramatically. He groaned inwardly. He liked Ivan, but did the knight have to be quite so theatrical?

Slowly, too slowly, the four of them stumbled offscreen. Looking exactly as though they'd crawled off to die.

Riley put his head in his hands. So much for hoping the video would help.

The inspector was watching him with a satisfied smile. 'Possession of a deadly weapon. Attempt to commit terrorism. You're looking at some serious jail time.'

The door burst open. 'Sir, you'd better come over. We need your help with the other suspect.'


	3. Chapter 3

Koda had had a very good day. Although it had not started well. A monster had tried to attack his new family. The Rangers had fought monsters before, but this monster had cut their bonds of friendship. An attack on the tribe: the gravest threat there was.

But Shearfear was gone. Riley, his brother, had come up with an ingenious plan to stop him. And so they had triumphed over the enemy. What a wonderful feeling! When a hunt succeeded, his clan would feast and dance throughout the night. This also called for a celebration!

He wasn't the only one who thought so. Because people had come out of nowhere and hugged him so hard he fell to the ground! He didn't know hugs were still an acceptable form of greeting. Kendall kept reminding him to shake people's hands.

Then they'd let him ride in their car, and even given him new bracelets. Tyler only had one, but he had two! They were shiny and joined together. He liked the jangly noise they made when he moved.

Although his bracelets sometimes broke after he jangled them. But they kept giving him new ones, so that was alright.

Now his new friends were asking him questions about himself. Kendall had said this was called 'getting to know you'.

'Let's try this again. What's your name?'

'Koda.'

'And your last name?'

Koda frowned. What was a last name? Kendall had tried many times to explain it to him, but he had never understood. She was one person. Why did she have two names?

'My name Koda.'

The man talking to him was new. Louder than the others, and much more eager to know all about Koda. His name was Iaskthequestionshere. A funny name for a funny man.

The funny man looked at the guard. 'He doesn't know his last name.'

'Maybe he's Indonesian?' The guard suggested. 'Lots of Indonesians go by only one name.'

The funny man shook his head. '"Koda"? Sounds more Japanese to me.'

He turned back to Koda. 'Where are you from, boy?'

Koda hadn't mastered the concept of an address.

'Illegal immigrant, eh?' The funny man leaned closer. 'You'd better start giving us answers, or you'll never set foot in the United States again! Do you want to go home?'

Could they really send him home? Kendall had told him that was impossible, and she was the smartest person he knew. Did this funny man know something she didn't? Home was Taku, his parents, his tribe. He dreamed of them every night.

'Go home? Yes. Home good.'

The funny man closed his eyes slowly.

'Get him an interpreter. What language do you speak, boy? Chinese? Japanese? Korean?'

Could they speak his language as well? No one but Keeper knew it. It was a language of the eyes, face, body - so much more than English. English was only words.

'I speak -' Koda told him the name of his native language. 'You know?'

The funny man groaned. 'Just get me an interpreter who speaks Asian.'

* * *

Koda sat there. A new lady had come in.

'Jeogiyo, hoksi hangukeo hasinayo?'

She was making many strange sounds. They sounded vaguely musical.

'Daedap jom haejusilraeyo?'

It was not 'singing'. He was familiar with singing. Even if music had changed very much since his time. He remembered coming to work at the cafe on the first day and hearing sounds in the kitchen. He had burst in, convinced someone was being attacked. But it had only been Chase singing.

'Ni dong zhong wen ma?'

No, it definitely was not singing. Even by the standards of what Shelby listened to on the radio.

'Ye bu shi zhong wen ma? Tian a…'

Suddenly he understood. It was a chant for good luck before they sent him home. His leaders had done such rituals too. Before a man went on a hunt or left on a long journey, they would chant over him, call on his ancestors to give him good luck.

Did people still do that? But then again, sometimes Kendall did it too. When her latest gadget refused to work, she'd mutter words he didn't understand under her breath. He'd carefully memorised them in case he ever needed luck. But she'd scolded him and told him never to say those words again. Perhaps they were not a lucky chant? He would have to ask Chase.

'Darso Myanmar lar? Nin Myanmar so ngar ko pyaw sann par.'

He closed his eyes to listen to the lady's words. Maybe when he opened them, he would see Taku again.


	4. Chapter 4

Just as Riley was contemplating whether he'd ever see sunlight again, he heard voices outside his room.

' - tried every language I know and he fell asleep,' a woman was saying. 'I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance.'

'It's no trouble at all. We'll find some way to communicate with him.' The inspector's voice, though Riley detected a suppressed sigh. Something told him that whatever the inspector had just experienced, it was not 'no trouble at all'.

His impression was confirmed when the door opened. The inspector looked dishevelled, almost ragged. And unless Riley was imagining it, his hair seemed thinner than when they'd last met. Wasn't 'tearing your hair out' just a figure of speech? What exactly had happened in the other room?

'You.' No, the inspector definitely did not sound pleased. 'Talk to your friend.'

His friend? Then Riley saw what he hadn't noticed before. Behind the inspector, escorted by a guard, was Koda. He was beaming.

 _Beaming_?

'Riley! You have bracelet too!' Koda looked positively delighted. He held up his wrists - and his handcuffs snapped. The guard beside him sagged slightly.

'Look, we're down to our last pair of handcuffs. You seem like a nice guy. I don't know how you do it, but will you please stop doing that?'

Koda looked puzzled. 'Okay.'

The guard blinked. '"Okay"? That's it? Why didn't you stop breaking them earlier?'

'You not ask.'

The inspector made a stifled sound, like a cat being strangled. Riley cast a confused frown in his direction. At this distance, he realised he hadn't been imagining it: there really was a small bald patch on the inspector's scalp.

'That's our equipment budget for the year, sir. Permission to get the last pair?'

Riley saw the inspector take a long breath and release it. He had the sudden premonition that he was in the presence of a volcano about to erupt.

'Just get their things.'

Three puzzled faces turned to the inspector. Riley didn't understand. Why would they need their things unless they were getting released?

Koda seemed equally confused.

'You letting me go? But you say you send me home.'

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

'Out! Just get out! I don't know what you are, but I never want to see you again!'

'Letting suspects off so easily, inspector? Getting soft in your old age I'm afraid.'

Riley never saw someone change colour so fast.

'Madam Ward! Wh-what brings you here today?'

'I heard you detained two suspects for questioning about acts of terrorism at the airport bus station. Thought I'd pop by for a look. I am most interested to hear that you've decided to release them.'

The inspector paled even further. Riley remembered the day Chase first learned to grind on his skateboard. He had gotten on everyone's nerves by showing off on every surface in the museum, until Tyler had dared him to grind along the lab countertop in the base. Chase, unfortunately, had taken up Tyler's dare just as Ms Morgan walked in.

Watching the inspector cower now, Riley couldn't help being reminded of Chase before Ms Morgan.

'I'm sorry for my outburst, madam. I was conducting the investigation and got, uh, momentarily frustrated. I will resume questioning them.' He hesitated. 'This investigation is well within my capabilities. It's really not necessary for you to be here.'

'Don't be silly. I'm sure you're doing a magnificent job with the investigation unit, but as head of airport security, it's my job to know what goes on in my department.'

This lady - or the head, as she called herself - reminded Riley of Shelby. In age and appearance she could have been Shelby's older sister. But there was also a gleam in her eyes that said she was used to getting her way.

'Come on now, what are they charged with'?

The inspector had apparently decided there was no use resisting. There was a look of resignation on his face as he told her.

'Terrorism and possession of a deadly weapon. Right.' She wrote something on the notepad she was holding. 'Okay, where are the guns?

'I'm sorry?'

'Where… are… the… guns?' She repeated, enunciating each word as though speaking to a five-year-old.

'I, uh -'

'You detained them at the crime scene and you couldn't find the guns?'

Had Riley cursed their morphers being guns? For once he was glad the Dino Morphers only materialised when they needed them. But security had taken his Energem, so he couldn't summon his morpher even if he'd wanted to.

Pity they'd taken his phone as well. He would have given anything for a photo of the inspector's current expression.

'Well, you can't charge them for possessing a deadly weapon unless you can find the weapon, can you?' She made a cross on her checklist. 'No guns. Alright. Witnesses?'

The inspector perked up. 'The witnesses, they were all on the airport shuttle - '

' - which means that by now they're all out of the country. Unless you thought to detain them?'

Silence again. Riley was starting to like that sound.

'You did assure me this case was "well within your capabilities", inspector.'

But wait, didn't the inspector have a trump card? No matter who she was, she couldn't get around the CCTV footage. The footage that showed him and Koda shooting four people in broad daylight.

The inspector reached the same conclusion at the same time.

'I have proof of their crimes. Right here!' He pointed to his laptop. Riley watched, heart sinking, as the inspector played the video he was all too familiar with.

The head regarded the video for a long time.

'I will defer to your judgment, inspector. But in my experience, it is quite unusual for the victims of a terrorist attack to be standing outside the building where their shooters are arrested, demanding that they be released.'

She made a cross on her checklist again. 'No victims.'

The head nodded to the guard beside Koda. 'He was telling you to get their things? Go on.'

The inspector looked as though he couldn't process what he was hearing. 'You - you're letting them go?'

She turned to face him. 'Was that not _your_ decision?'

The inspector didn't dare to disagree. 'But what about the video?'

'You are holding these two young men for shooting the people in the video, yes? I do believe I passed this lady and the three gentlemen on my way into the building. They were standing outside the gates, raising quite a racket. Certainly the most vigorous victims of a shooting I've ever met.'

She paused. 'Unless you are suggesting they were shot with magic dinosaur friendship bullets.'

The head turned and caught Riley's gaze for the first time. Riley thought he saw her wink.


	5. Chapter 5

Riley had never liked fairy tales. He liked his stories to be logical, and fairy tales were anything but. An evil witch, a damsel in distress, and just when all hope was lost, a prince with a magic kiss to save the day. It was too convenient. Why read a story if its resolution was going to arrive from nowhere without even a bit of foreshadowing? Give him a good detective novel any day.

The problem was, he could always put down a book. This was real life. He and Koda were sitting in some kind of reception area, watching the head finish the paperwork for their release.

Riley thought airports were supposed to be welcoming, but this place was decidedly not. A bare and currently empty reception counter dominated the room. The only natural light came from the sliding glass doors. Beyond them he could see a car park bounded by forbidding concrete walls.

He could put down a book if it didn't make sense, but real life was anything but logical. Just thirty minutes ago, he had been trapped in an investigation for terrorism with seemingly no way out. Then the head had come in. She'd convinced the inspector to let them go, personally unlocked Riley's handcuffs, and escorted them out of the small room he'd languished in since arriving.

Why had she been so set on letting them go? She'd grilled the inspector over his lack of evidence, but to Riley it seemed she'd intended to release them from the start. And then there was her last remark. Did she know that they were Rangers? Riley didn't like the idea. Quite apart from Ms Morgan's reaction if she found out that someone knew their identities, Riley didn't want to be let off just because he was a Ranger. His parents paid taxes so that the country stayed safe. How could it be proper procedure to let someone go because of who they were? Anyway, hadn't the first Green Ranger been evil?

Or maybe she didn't know they were Rangers. Maybe she really was releasing them because there wasn't enough evidence. But people got arrested for making bomb jokes, and there were no witnesses or victims there either.

His mother would tell him to stop thinking so much. _You're getting released, honey! It's a good thing. Just be grateful!_

Riley finally put his finger on what was troubling him.

If he were in a book, the head would be a deus ex machina.

He hated deus ex machinas.

'Done.' The head finally looked up. 'I just need your signatures here, and here. Certify that your contact details are correct. I've put down that you were arrested over a misunderstanding, but we still have to take down your details.'

Riley took the pen she offered. Koda did know how to write, right?

To his relief Koda signed the papers too. The head collected the forms.

'That's all. You're free to go.'

She was actually letting them go. Leaving all his questions unanswered. An eternal detective novel without a reveal.

'You're really letting us off?'

Perhaps that wasn't something he should say when being released from a terrorist investigation.

The head seemed to agree. 'Are you innocent or not? If you'd prefer, we could go back and do the full investigation.'

'Yes. I mean, no!' What had he gotten himself into? 'I just, I thought we were in for it. The inspector thought we were terrorists. He had that video and was going to lock us up. Then you came in, and you hardly even watched it, and you made him let us go. Almost like - ' _you were breaking every rule in the book_ \- 'Like a fairy tale.'

The head was smiling slightly. Riley had the uncomfortable feeling that she knew what he'd almost said.

'Not going to stop until you get an answer, even if it means getting in trouble? I can see what you and Kendall have in common.'

 _She knew Ms Morgan_?

The head must have seen the expression on his face, because she laughed. 'Kendall and I were high school friends. Imagine my surprise when she rang me out of the blue. Said some of her kids got in trouble at the airport. You'll never guess what she told me.' Her eyes twinkled. 'She said you were Power Rangers.'

And Riley had been worried about preserving their identities?

'And I said hon, if you needed my help, all you had to do was ask. Everyone knows the Rangers never reveal their secret identities.'

Koda was looking from Riley to the head. 'But we are -'

Under the table, Riley kicked him. Koda stopped and looked at him, more confused than hurt.

The head hadn't noticed. 'Besides, aren't the Power Rangers supposed to be teenagers? Kendall's never been good with kids, and she used to say the best thing about teenagers is that they grow up. Like she would be involved with the Power Rangers.'

The head chuckled to herself again, during which time Riley shook his head at Koda and put a finger to his lips.

He should stop talking too. Before he accidentally accepted her offer to do the full investigation.

'Anyway, if you'll consent to my releasing you, I just need one more thing for my records. We arrested two teenagers over a misunderstanding, but I can't say I arrested a couple of Power Rangers.' She said the last two words with a smirk.

'So who are you anyway? Kids playing a prank? Actors filming a poorly-thought-out script?'

Riley had never been a good liar.

'We're actors filming a poorly-thought-out script.'

'A poorly-thought-out-script.' There was a small smile on her face as she wrote it down. 'Well, take this as a public service announcement. You want to watch the way you handle guns, even if you're just filming a show. "If your friends aren't getting along, shoot them?" What kind of message is that to send to kids?'

It had been Ms Morgan's idea, and they weren't filming a kids' show, but Riley decided that the less he said, the better.

'Thank you, miss…'

'Ward. Justine Ward.' She held out her hand. 'I apologise, we never introduced ourselves, did we?'

'I'm Riley. And this is Koda.' He gestured at Koda, who was no longer paying attention but seemed to be off in his own world.

'Yes, I know. I read the inspector's preliminary report when he brought you in. I picked up on several problems with the evidence, but I think I also remembered your names.'

She looked at Koda and smiled. 'So this is the famous Koda? Your friend tried to hug the inspector after he was arrested. I have to save a copy of his report on that incident. Most entertaining thing I've read in a long time.'

Koda had tried to hug the inspector? A lot of things about the inspector's behaviour suddenly made sense.

'Well, you'd better tell him it's time to go. Unless he has questions for me too.'

Riley looked at Koda. He was staring intently at the wall. There was absolutely nothing about it that could hold such interest. It was the exact same dull, smudged, not particularly attractive drywall as the wall in the interrogation room. And goodness knew they'd spent more than enough time staring at _that._

Yet Koda was contemplating it with an intensity Riley had never seen him wear before. Riley wondered what he was thinking.

* * *

The wall was blue. His tribe had the red of earth and the black of fire ash, but they had never found a way to capture in paint the colour of the soaring sky. Yet here it was. Covering not just the wall before him, but also the walls of the room he had just left. Enough colour for a thousand caves.

What would his tribe find harder to believe, he wondered? That man would some day master blue? Or that the little rock he had found in their cave had, by a process still mysterious to him, somehow bound him to that colour forever?

Perhaps he would never know they thought. Because the funny man had not sent him home.

Had Koda misunderstood him somehow? Perhaps 'going home' had more than one meaning. He had come to learn that about English - that words could have many meanings. There were even people who spent their lives taking advantage of that. Kendall said they were called 'lawyers'.

Or had she called them 'liars'? The two words sounded so similar. That was another strange thing about English.

Anyway, Koda did not think the funny man was a lawyer.

The funny man had not sent him home. But was that a bad thing? He remembered when he was sitting before the chanting lady. Towards the end her chants had grown louder, more insistent. Almost as if she were waiting for him to respond. And so he knew the ritual was reaching its climax. That was when a new question occurred to him. What would he do when he got home?

He had so much to tell his family. What stories he would tell! Cars, and buildings, and computers, and glass. He could see Taku's eyes widening, his father listening but pretending not to be impressed. The others gathering round to listen. He would become the best storyteller in the tribe.

Though perhaps he would not tell them about skateboards. As far as Koda could tell, they served no useful purpose. His grandfather would not be happy to hear that the wheel he was so proud of inventing was being used this way.

And then… what? Would he go to sleep every night dreaming of Shelby, and Ivan, and Kendall? Would his heart ache for them the same way it ached for his family now?

'Koda.' Riley was standing in front of him. 'It's time to leave.'

Riley and the nice lady had finished talking. Koda would have joined their conversation, but Riley had signed that he should be quiet. Was he allowed to speak now?

Now the nice lady was talking to him.

'Hello, Koda. You'll be pleased to know you can go. I don't suppose you have any questions for me?'

He did. What was family? He had asked Chase once, after Chase had said his parents were 'divorced'. It seemed 'family' was also a word with many meanings. There was family, extended family and the people you had to send cards to at Christmas.

Such a complicated world. To him, family was family. The people you loved through thick and thin. The people you were willing to die for.

But Riley was shaking his head. Koda should not ask the nice lady anything.

'No. It okay.' He tried to remember his manners. What had Kendall said? 'It nice to meet you.'

He held out his hand, but she pulled him into a hug. 'Nice to meet you too, Koda. Take care of Kendall for me.'

The nice lady was Kendall's friend. But she was not like Kendall. Kendall had told him not to hug. He felt a twinge of sadness that they were leaving. With enough time, perhaps the nice lady could be his family too.

Riley was leading him to the doors. Koda could tell that they were made of glass. Light was coming through, but no wind to carry scents. He made extra sure not to walk through them until he could feel the air currents again.

The doors opened onto a large grey field where cars lived. There were gates at the end of the field. And behind the gates…

'There they are.'

He looked. There were four figures in the distance. They looked familiar. The one in black seemed to have dozed off while leaning against the gate. As Koda watched, the one in red looked their way and saw them. He nudged the one in gold. Both started waving frantically.

Now pink was shaking the one in black. His head accidentally thumped against the gate. It made a hollow _clang_ that echoed all the way across the field. Black now seemed to be fully awake. Koda could hear the sounds of an argument beginning.

Yes. He knew these people.

Beside him, Riley exhaled. 'Come on, Koda. Let's go home.'

What was 'going home'? A word with many meanings. But did that matter? To him, home was where family was.

And most people had only one family, but he was lucky enough to have two.

He and Riley stepped out into the sunlight.

Yes, it was time to go home.

* * *

My first story complete! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. I will post author's notes if there is enough interest (if I get more than 15 reviews). Please review, and follow me for updates on my next story!


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